Coal feeder for gas producers



' June 16, 1925.

C. A. SCHRANZ COAL FEEDER FOR GAS PRODUCERS Filed April 14 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 acr @7% Wn?? `lune l 6, 1925. 1,542,732

C. A. SCHRANZ COAL FEEDER FOR GAS PRODUCERS Filed April 14. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 with coal.

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Fig. l. As the drum rotates in the direction of the arrow, Fig. l, the flanges 22 prevent the compartments l0, between the vanes of the drum, from' being completely filled rllhe coal, as the drum revolves, will settle below the peripheral line of the drum and amming of the coal between the drum and the housing is prevented. It will be observed that the wall at the left hand side of the space 13a is located near the vertical plane of the axis of the drum. The location of this wall approximately as shown is important. If the wall were located close to the chute there would not be opportunity for the coal to settle below the peripheral line of the drum before the rear vanes of the respective pockets pass under the bottom edge of the said wall; and if the wall were located in a position at the ex treme left the coal would begin to roll out of the pockets before the said rear vanes thereof passed under the lower edge of the wall.

Vhen the drum discharges the coal into the producer, the flanges on the vanes retard the flow of the coal, therefore, it is more uniformly distributed over the fuel bed.

The drum can be rotated at varying speeds to control the flow of coal to the producer and the flow of fuel from the chute can be regulated by the gate.

At 23 are a series of ports in the housing. In these ports are water spray nozzles 24 of any suitable construction. The ports 23 are located directly under the flat portion 17 of the housing. A series of spray ports 25 is preferably arranged in the housing above the drum and water spray nozzles 26 are located in the ports, as shown. The nozzles project sprays of water into the compartments as they are presented on the rotation of the drum 6, forming a water fog, which will seal, to a largeextent, the clearance space between the vanes of the drum and the housing, as the water, being finely divided,fwill moisten uniformly theentire surface of the machined portions of the housing. The water vapor will also weight down any gas that escapes past the drum and will prevent it from entering the chute, or the space above the drum.

I claim:

l. The combination in a coal feeder for gas producers, of a housing; a drum mounted in the housing capable of being rotated; and a chute at one side of the housing having an opening in its side to allow the coal to flow from the chute into the drum, the chute having a flat bottom which sustains the weight of the coal in the chute.

2. The combination of ahousing; a drum mounted therein capable of being rotated; a chute at one side of the housing, said chute being open at one side to allow the coal to Aflow from the chute into the drum; and an adjustable gate for rontrolling the flow of coal, the bottom of the chute sustaining the weight of coal in the chute.

3. The combination in a coal feeder for gas producers, of a drum rotatable about a horizontal axis and having feeding compartments therein, a housing enclosing the drum and having a discharge outlet with which the drinn communicates at the bottom, the said housing also having an unobstructed chamber with which the drum communicates at the top, a chute at one side of the said chamber over which coal flows by gravity to the drum, a wall at the opposite side of the said chamber near the vertical plane of the axis of the drum, a supply hopper for the chute having one wall so located with respect to the drum that the upper surface of the layer of coal extending from the hopper along the chute will be at the natural angle of flow or repose and will extend to a line of intersection with the drum, the said surface being separated from any part of the feeder, means for rotating the drum in the direction to move the feeding pockets upward past the said layer of coal, and rearward extending flanges at the forward outer corners of the several feeding compartments for preventing the complete filling of the pockets.

4. The combination of a housing; a drum mounted in the housing, said drum having vanes forming compartments; a shaft on which the drum is mounted; bearings for the shaft, the vanes having flanges at the periphery of the drum extending in a direction opposite to the rotation of the drum; and a chute secured to one side of the housing, the side next to the drum having an opening so that the bottom ofthe chute, which is substantially on a line with the center line of the shaft, will allow coal to flow into the compartments of the drum formed by the vanes when a compartment is at one side of the shaft, the flanges on the vanes, at the periphery of the drum, preventing the complete filling of the compartments.

5. The combination in a coal feeder for gas producers, of a rotatable drum with feeding pockets therein, a housing enclosing the drum and having a feed opening at the top and a discharge opening at the bottom, means for feeding fuel to the drum through the feed opening, and two series of water spray pipes extending longitudinally of the drum and located at opposite sides thereof, each series of spray pipes being located between the feeding and discharge openings and serving not only to moisten the fuel but also to prevent leakage of gas from the discharge opening to the feed opening.

6. The combination of a housing having an opening at each end and having an extension at one side provided with a Hat bottom; a chute secured to the extension and having a bottom forming a continuation of the bottom of the extension of the housing; a drum having compartments and also having solid ends that are located in the open` ings in the housing, said chute having an opening to allow coal to How by gravity into the compartments of the drum, the housing having an open space directly above that portion of the drum next to the chute; and a door closing the opening.

7. The combination of a housing having an opening; bearings on the outside of the housing at each end; a shaft mounted in the bearings; a drum mounted on the shaft between the bearings, said drum having vanes and solid ends, the ends extending into the openings in the housing; one or more annular grooves in the periphery of the ends of the drum; passages in the housing communicating with the grooves; and means for allowing Water to flow through the passages into the grooves to form a Water seal to prevent the escape of gas.

CHARLES A. SCHRANZ. 

